A Mixed Bag

North Park Retains A Rich Blend Of People, Properties

What`s in a name? Clues to a community, one might guess, and in North Park the monikers you`ll find on mailboxes are about as diverse as the array of apartments and rent levels.

How about a six-flat with neighbors named Voulgarakis, Koh and Rodriguez? Or a larger, multi-unit building across that alley that`s home to the Rosenbergs, Savitskys and Kims? Then there are the Englers in the brick bungalow down the block and the Baruches in that building over there-after a while, it starts to sound like ripe material for a TV sitcom, or at least a

``Taste of North Park`` festival.

North Park is an ethnically rich community on Chicago`s North Side, with boundaries stretching from Devon Avenue and the city limits on the north, to the Chicago River`s North Branch on the south, the North Shore Channel on the east and Cicero Avenue on the west.

It`s a former farming community that was annexed by Chicago in 1893, though many of the greener pastures are still evident in North Park`s numerous parks and forest preserve areas.

One grassy North Park site where you will find names of a similar variety is the Bohemian National Cemetery, near Pulaski Road and Foster Avenue. Though the cemetery`s ornate tombstones are etched with loads of similar-sounding names, like Fugik, Jemnik and Kerlik, many of the Czech families who once lived in North Park have moved to other parts of the city, or to the great beyond.

``The families aren`t from around here much anymore, but they do come back to the cemetery because a lot of them lived nearby at one time or another,`` says Beverly Bernacchi, who works at the cemetery, which is also the burial place of Mayor Anton Cermak.

Rents and residences in the community vary from neighborhood to neighborhood. North Park`s northwestern corner, especially along Cicero Avenue, holds a smattering of duplexes and two-story buildings as well as a vast number of single-family residences.

Most multi-unit buildings are condos or townhomes and the few apartments available fetch healthy rents-after all, you`re practically in the suburbs.

``There are relatively few apartments-maybe about 40 or 50-in the area,`` says Walter Servos, a broker at House of Realty Inc. ``It`s a very heterogeneous area that`s oriented to single-family homes, and it`s a fairly affluent socio-economic class.``

Servos says that House of Realty occasionally lists houses for rent, but only about two or three a year. For apartment dwellers, spots like the Williamsburg Apartments, 6249 N. Cicero Ave., have rents that range from about $500 (studio) to $670 (two-bedroom), which is typical for North Park`s northwestern section, says that property`s manager.

Options aplenty

Further south, where two- and three-flats and courtyard buildings line thoroughfares and sidestreets alike, the apartment pickings are much more numerous. ``For rent`` signs are a dime a dozen along streets like Kimball Avenue, and inquiry phone calls turn up both management companies and individual owners. Both sources cite similar statistics: Rents fall in the $450-$480 range for a one-bedroom with heat included and alley or street parking. And, yes, it`s a very quiet neighborhood.

Quiet? With all those college kids nearby? North Park may be home to two colleges, North Park College and Northeastern Illinois University, but neither draws rowdy students.

At NIU, most students commute to the school, which was founded in Englewood in 1867. A few students do choose to move into the area to ease the commute and, if you`re a student, or can pass for one, you might slip into the university`s Village Square area and check out the ``housing`` bulletin board for cheap rentals in the area.

Despite all the options in North Park, one dimension is rather limited:

transportation. The expressways and Ravenswood L are somewhat accessible, but for the most part, CTA buses are the public transportation mode of (no)

choice. Buses run along major east/west thoroughfares from Devon to Lawrence.